Category: Estate Records

Joshua Crompton’s travels through Sicily, 1825 – Part 2: Nicolosi to Syracuse

This second and concluding instalment of Crompton and Blane’s travels in Sicily follows them on the latter half of their journey down the east coast. From their daily journal entries, we can share their experiences of an exhausting climb of Mount Etna to view the crater of the volcano and their tour of Syracuse to see the ancient sites, including the remains of Greek temples and the Greek theatre. … Read More Joshua Crompton’s travels through Sicily, 1825 – Part 2: Nicolosi to Syracuse

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Joshua Crompton’s travels through Sicily, 1825 – Part 1: Naples to Catania

In this first of a two-part series, using contemporary journal extracts, we follow Joshua Samuel Crompton and his travel companion William Blane on their journey down the east coast of Sicily in February 1825. Their ultimate destination was Malta, but en route they visited the ancient Greek and Roman sites of Catania and Taormina.… Read More Joshua Crompton’s travels through Sicily, 1825 – Part 1: Naples to Catania

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Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not…

Descriptions of the weather can be found in a wide variety of records held in the Record Office collections. In this blog, you can see examples from the past 350 years, ranging from impromptu remarks made in early diaries, travel journals and parish registers, through to the methodical, late-19th-century daily observations of lighthouse keepers and a 1920s sunshine recorder.… Read More Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not…

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Medieval music: examples of manuscript fragments from our collections

Fragments of medieval music manuscripts have been found reused as the covers or linings of later books held in parish and estate collections here at the County Record Office. In this blog, you can find out more about the manuscripts themselves and the different types of notation and rubrics upon them.… Read More Medieval music: examples of manuscript fragments from our collections

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The building of Sion Hill, North Yorkshire: a late-Edwardian country house

Sion Hill was one of the latest country houses to be built in England at the beginning of the 20th century, designed by renowned York architect Walter H. Brierley and completed just before the outbreak of the First World War. Told through correspondence and plans within the Stancliffe family archive held at the County Record Office, read the fascinating story of the purchase of the Sion Hill Estate and the building of the new house for Percy and Ethel Stancliffe between 1911 and 1914.… Read More The building of Sion Hill, North Yorkshire: a late-Edwardian country house

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Patterns in paper: an introduction to watermarks found within Record Office collections

Have you ever held an historic document up to the light, noticed an image or pattern within the paper and wondered how it got there and why? These images can tell us a great deal about the manufacture and date of the paper and much more. In this blog, using examples from documents within our collections, you can see a fascinating range of the designs that were used and some of the stories they can tell. … Read More Patterns in paper: an introduction to watermarks found within Record Office collections

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New collections: From 600 year old deeds to the Eurovision Song Contest!

Did you know that we regularly receive material to add to our archive collections? Our latest blog coincides with our new temporary exhibition, in which you can see a wide range of items that have recently been added to our collections – from 600 year old deeds to items from the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest when it was held in Harrogate in 1982. … Read More New collections: From 600 year old deeds to the Eurovision Song Contest!

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